


you're taking my heart by storm

by bugabisous (mariafernanda)



Series: this love is a tangled web [11]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, F/M, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Knows, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Knows Adrien Agreste Is Chat Noir, Temporary Character Death, this is part of a series of ficlets and won't make sense on its own
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:01:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23508829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariafernanda/pseuds/bugabisous
Summary: The entire week had been a twisted game of expectations versus reality, and the many ways in which Marinette had made her life that much more difficult.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: this love is a tangled web [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1634344
Comments: 58
Kudos: 185





	1. expectations

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Storm by Ruelle.
> 
> I took longer than usual for this one because:  
> a) Work has been kicking my butt, and  
> b) I haven't been satisfied with my writing lately.
> 
> I think this came out okay, though, so I hope you enjoy.

True to what Adrien had said, they were absolutely useless for the rest of patrol. Her mind had been on the clouds and she couldn’t look at him for more than a split second before she blushed cherry red - which proved that, even though she liked to think that she had planned it to perfection, she hadn’t thought this through. If she kept up like this, she’d end up slipping before the first week was up.

She tried to gain some semblance of calm, or at least the ability to fake it, because the last thing she needed was for Chat to turn to look at her and catch her staring at him like a lovesick pile of goo. She never thought she’d have an easy time pretending that she didn’t know who he was, or that she wasn’t in love with him, but it was harder than she had predicted. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how much harder it would be to keep her cool when she was _Marinette_ , considering she’d be acutely aware of the fact that he was probably also restraining himself.

“I stumbled across Adrien on my way here, my lady,” he said, when they were sitting on a random rooftop taking a break, “He told me something quite interesting.”

“Oh, did he really?”

“Yeah,” he smiled, “apparently he and Viperactive are dating now. It’s fun to think about, don’t you think? They know each other as civilians but started dating as superheroes.”

She couldn’t help but grin, he was being incredibly silly. “Adrien knows who she is,” she said, “he accidentally slipped up and told me once.”

“And you didn’t snatch their miraculous on the spot?” 

“Clearly not,” she snorted, “I didn’t think it was necessary, to be honest. I don’t see any harm in it.”

“Except the poor idiot torturing himself, seeing his girlfriend in class and knowing she has no idea,” he said, causing her to bite her lip in order to not let out a giggle. He looked like the famous Grumpy Cat, sulky but adorable, and she resisted the urge to take his face in her hands and squish his cheeks.

“That sounds rough,” she replied, “Being next to your partner and not having them know it’s you, so you can’t do anything? Can’t say I envy that position.”

“I’m sure he thinks she’s worth it,” he said with a soft smile. “But aren’t you worried about them dating as superheroes?”

“I think that as long as they’re careful and discreet, there shouldn’t be an issue. They’re not exactly in the limelight, Chat,” she shrugged.

“You’re right, as usual.”

“As long as you’re used to it by now, kitty,” she said, flicking his bell. She knew anything more than that would be pushing it, both for her already haywire emotions and because she didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable - he didn’t know who she was, after all. “But enough chit chat, let’s do one last round before heading home.”

He stood up first, holding out his hand to help her up even though it was completely unnecessary. She pointedly ignored the way her heart raced at his proximity and jumped off the rooftop and into the night with the help of her trusty yoyo.

.

.

She had thought that being around him as Chat Noir while being Ladybug was difficult, but she soon realized that being around him as Marinette was infinitely worse. It was one thing for her to be dying to kiss him and being unable to do so due to not being the correct version of her at the moment, but it was another kind of hell entirely when she knew he was having the same problem.

The morning had proved to be awkward, which caused her to be the target of all the questioning looks that Alya could get away with throwing her way during Mendeleiev’s class. Even Nino seemed to be looking at Adrien as if he had grown a second head overnight, though she suspected that Alya’s frantic texting behind the table had something to do with it.

She had expected that she would do her usual impression of a tomato when she saw him that morning, and Alya would roll her eyes lightheartedly and mumble under her breath about things going back to normal. What she hadn’t expected was the breathless adoration that Adrien directed at her when he greeted her as she passed by his desk - the raw emotion was enough to make her stumble slightly, only managing to avoid falling to the floor because of Alya grabbing her arm to steady her. She didn’t dare to look back at him in fear that she would just throw her plans out of the wind and her arms around his neck so she could hug him tightly before pulling him in for a quick good morning peck.

Adrien seemed to be twitching at any minuscule sound she made, and every so often she caught him sneaking glances at her - it was torture, but exhilarating all the same. She would have to get used to it, hope that the girls didn’t make too much of a fuss about Adrien’s behavior, and deflect any talk of her love life for the time being. 

“Fine, girl, keep your secrets,” Alya shrugged when she told her nothing was going on, “but I’m here if you need someone to talk to, you know that, right?”

With a smile, and hoping to one day be able to tell her best friend everything, she nodded and said, “Of course, Alya, I know I can always count on you.”

.

.

No one really expects a regular Wednesday to be very exciting, not even someone like Marinette - used to fight the most random akumas at the most random of times. She was also not expecting the akuma to be particularly difficult to beat, when she got to the scene.

She had been incredibly wrong.

Marinette had seen the bodies - alive and well, except for the fact that they didn’t seem to manage to sit up before falling down again - lying on the sidewalk. It looked more serious than it really was and she had been sure that they would finish this within a couple of minutes if they managed to sneak out on Twister. 

The idea of an akuma who made people trip over the feet didn’t seem really life-threatening to her, considering that that was something she dealt with daily, and Adrien had also seemed to believe that they would be able to make quick work of her and go back to their civilian lives without much time wasted. But they weren’t counting on the akuma becoming more agile with each person she hit, nor could they have anticipated that she would be able to scale buildings after having claimed just a few victims.

Marinette had rolled her eyes at the situation, already knowing the reason for akumatization. Being pulled away from her much needed study time due to Hawkmoth deciding someone that had lost a friendly game was a good akuma victim was not exactly something she enjoyed greatly.

Standing on top of the building, unable to get closer to the akuma, she was reevaluating her previous assessment. Chat Noir was trying to distract Twister in hopes that she could sneak around and break the akumatized object, but it was of no use. This akuma seemed to have the incredibly annoying strategy of shooting up blindly and indiscriminately, clearly knowing that she didn’t have any need to save ammunition. 

She wasn’t cliche enough to say that it happened in slow motion, but she definitely felt her heart slow down until it was as if it had stopped. Twister turned around as Marinette closed in on her and shot; she was sure there was no escaping the beam of light and thought she would inevitably get hit, until Chat Noir’s baton deflected it. She had no time to let out a sigh of relief before she realized that the baton was slipping off his hand as he fell backwards and over the side of the building.

She was sure she had screamed, but she never heard herself do so. It was just the raw feeling at the back of her throat that made her aware of the fact, only after she had managed to defeat the akuma - who had been distracted, caught off guard by the horror of seeing Chat Noir plummet to the ground and into certain death. She caught the akuma and purified it, aware of the tear tracks in her cheeks and the burning in the pit of her stomach, the air feeling thin in her lungs as she allowed herself to cry.

She let herself hit the floor, feeling more exhausted than she had ever felt before, as the magical ladybugs did their usual job of clearing up the mess and restoring everything to normal. She made no move until she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and she looked up and straight into Adrien’s eyes.

She stood up and enveloped him into a tight hug, reveling in the way she could feel his pulse against her cheek when she nuzzled his neck, the warmth of his arms as he enveloped her and the timbre of his voice - undeniable proof that she hadn’t lost him. With no hesitation, without thinking about the repercussions of her actions - without thinking at all, actually - she grabbed his face and surged upwards, standing on the tip of her toes so she could crash her lips against his.

She felt him gasp and become rigid at the contact, and that’s when she realized the idiocy of her actions: He had no idea who she was or the way she felt about him, and not long ago he had explicitly told her that he was moving on. They were also in plain sight, their embrace ready for any potential photographers to capture for posterity.

She stepped away from him, feeling cold dread crawl in her bones. He was looking at her as if she had just kicked him in the stomach, his mouth parted open and eyes wide, and it would have been comical in any other circumstance.

“My lady?” he gasped out, taking a step closer. She took a step backward, her hand going for her yoyo in order to make a quick retreat, but he caught her by the arm, “Why did you do that?”

“I’m sorry, Chat, I,” she said, bringing her hands to her face, “Emotions were high, I got carried away,” she gulped, raising her face to look at him, “it didn’t mean anything.”

“It didn’t?”

He looked wrecked, like a ship after a storm. She turned away, unwilling to look at him as she said, “Of course it did.”

His grip went slack and she took the opportunity to use her yoyo and fly away from the scene, leaving a dumbstruck Chat to take care of the akuma victim. 

She had really fucked up all her plans, but that was something that she wasn’t ready to deal with at the moment. In any case, she was sure Adrien would seek her out - one way or another.


	2. reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reality sets in.

Adrien wasn’t entirely sure how he managed to get back home without slamming against a wall on the way, but he was grateful for whatever higher power that had allowed it. As much as he would have liked to say that he hadn’t felt anything when Ladybug kissed him, he knew it wasn’t true - and he knew that he had to be as honest with Marinette as he could manage. He didn’t want to start the relationship with more lies than strictly necessary, as he was already feeling guilty enough about the secret identities.

“Plagg, I really messed up this time,” he said into his pillow. His heart was beating wildly, and he cursed his rotten luck for the fact that Ladybug had kissed him now of all times, when he was happy and in love in a relationship with an amazing girl. A part of him wanted to be angry at her, but he hadn’t told her he was in a relationship - he had decided to wait, in order to avoid her connecting the very obvious dots.

“Did you really, kid?” he replied, already biting into a wedge of camembert. 

“Of course I did!” he sat up so he could give Plagg an accusatory glare, “I kissed Ladybug, even though I’m dating Marinette!”

“Young Master, I agree with Plagg. She kissed you, it was very quick and you didn’t have time to react,” added Longg. But it gave Adrien no comfort, because he was incredibly aware of the truth.

“But that’s the thing, guys,” he said quietly, “if I had had time to react, I’m not sure I would have pushed her away, it felt so right. And I’m scum.”

Plagg rolled his eyes, “If you feel that badly about it, then you’re just going to have to go and talk to your girlfriend about it.”

“I can’t do that, I’ll have to wait until our patrol on Friday.”

“There’s no need to wait, just say the magic words and you can go meet her now.”

“You’re being a dumbass, Plagg,” he said, before burying his head back on the pillow, “if I do that, she’ll know I know her identity.”

“Well, that’s too bad, then,” the kwami added, “but let’s be real here, kid, if you bury your head in the sand right now, there’s no way you won’t break down under the pressure of seeing her tomorrow at school.”

Adrien shot back up as if he had been electrocuted, “School!”

“Yes, you idiot, you go to school with her, or have you forgotten?”

“As stupid as it sounds,” he said, rubbing his temples, “yes, I had forgotten that detail. And I guess you’re right.”

“Like music to my ears, like a nice bite of camembert, I do enjoy being right.”

“It is a shame that it’s such a rare occurrence, then.”

Adrien laughed at the affronted look on Plagg’s face, and turned to see Longg smirking at the black kwami. 

“You deserve an extra treat for that,” he grinned, “but before that, I’m going to go face the music. Longg, bring the storm!”

.

.

Dropping onto Marinette’s balcony was both a familiar and incredibly strange experience, for while Chat Noir occasionally stopped by, he had never done so as Shenron. He knocked on the hatch and held his breath when he heard the quiet patter of her footsteps walking across the room. 

When the door opened and he saw her face, he almost forgot the reason he had gone to her house in the first place. Her face was somber and her eyes were a bit red-rimmed, but she still managed a slight smile when she saw him there.

“Hey. Shen,” she whispered, stepping down and sitting on her bed, “please come in.”

She didn’t seem surprised that he was there. Was it because she was used to superheroes dropping by her balcony? Or was there another reason?

“Hey Marinette,” he said, once he was sitting in front of her in the bed after having secured the hatch. She was playing with her hands, not looking at him. “I have to tell you something.”

Strangely, that made her smile, “Well, at least it’s not _‘We need to talk’_ ” she snorted, finally looking up. 

“What?” he said dumbly. Her hand reached out to take his, and she squeezed it. He stared at their joined hands like an idiot, not saying anything, for what felt like hours, before she used a finger to lift up his chin so he locked eyes with her.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you before, kitty,” she replied, before she moved closer and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. Meanwhile, his brain had decided to take a long vacation - and he couldn’t seem to process anything that was going on.

“What?” he repeated. She rewarded his magnificent eloquence with a giggle and a look that warmed him all the way down to his toes.

She let go of his hand and brought hers to cup his face, caressing his cheek with her thumb, always maintaining eye contact. “I said that I was sorry I wasn’t honest with you before, kitty.”

“ _Kitty?”_

“I know you’re Chat Noir, Adrien.”

In that moment, he felt both as if the floor had opened up under him and as if he was soaring through the skies. 

“How did you know?” he said, hand coming to rest on top of hers. “I thought I was careful.”

“You were,” she nodded, before shrugging, “but you had no idea I had way more perspective that you could have imagined.”

His confusion must have shown in his face, because she smiled softly before saying, “I’m Ladybug,” and changing his life forever. 

He felt himself freeze, his entire body tensing up in a weird mix between anticipation and shock. His breath stuttered and his heart jumped out at her words, not fully believing that he wasn't dreaming the entire thing or perhaps hallucinating it in some misguided attempt to alleviate his guilt. But even after he blinked several times she remained there, giving him the sweetest smile and gently stroking the skin of his cheek. And suddenly it was as if he had managed to complete a puzzle he wasn't aware he had started trying to figure out.

He was sure that he wouldn’t have been able to find the words to describe the complete sense of peace that filled him at that moment, but he was sure that he hadn’t felt anything like that ever before. He could feel the grin spilling out of his mouth, before he reached out for her and pulled her in for a kiss.

He moved away slightly, whispering, “Of course it’s you,” before pressing another kiss to her lips. She was giggling madly, and he could see that her eyes were damp around the edges; he completely understood how she felt, seeing as his face hurt from smiling so hard, but he couldn’t help it. He also couldn’t help but press quick kisses to her cheeks, forehead and even the tip of her nose.

“I love you so much,” she told him, her hand pressed against his chest - he was sure she could feel his heart pounding like crazy, but he didn’t mind.

“I love you more than anything, my lady,” he responded, before adding, “and if these past few months have proved anything, is that given the choice I would fall in love with you over and over.”

She buried her face in her hands, “Oh my god, how can you say stuff like that so easily?”

“You make me feel brave, Marinette,” he answered, taking both her hands away from her face and bringing one of them to his lips. He could see her cheeks were an adorable pink, but her smile remained brilliant.

“You make me want to be brave, too,” she murmured under her breath, “you always have been my reason to be brave, even when I was scared of my feelings for you.” She pressed her forehead against his, her eyes closed, and they stayed like that for several minutes, until she broke it by saying, “Adrien?”

“Hmm?”

“I really want to kiss you without any masks on,” she blushed slightly, “I have been wanting to for longer than you know.”

He felt his own cheeks darken, a weird nervous thrill running through him, but he complied without a second thought.

“Longg, open sky,” he said. And then she kissed him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And technically, the story is finished. I might post another part in the future to wrap things up even more, but I don't have plans to continue this and deal with topics like HM or whatever, so.

**Author's Note:**

> There's going to be a second chapter, mostly from Adrien's POV I think.
> 
> Have I written it? No, not yet. Whoooops?


End file.
